Category: Trusting God

Luke 1:20 (LSB) 20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

Greetings! Let’s continue our investigation to help us better understand why Zechariah was punished, while Mary was not, despite both asking the angel Gabriel a question.

If we look a bit more closely, it becomes very clear as to why things happened the way they did. Check this out.

It’s clear that both Zechariah and Mary were stunned by the revelations from Gabriel. They both replied with a question. But only one was reprimanded. From this we can determine that asking a question was not wrong in and of itself.

But if we look more closely, we can see there was a marked difference in what their questions implied.

Mary simply asked, “how can this be since I am a virgin?”

This would be the normal response from anyone in her situation.

Gabriel understood this. And when he explained it to her, she humbly accepted his words and said, “let it be unto me as you have said”.

But when we examine Zechariah’s question, we can see a different intent.

Zechariah’s question was, “How can I be sure this will happen?”

He was not simply asking how this could happen. He was questioning the legitimacy and truth of Gabriel’s words, insinuating that he had no way to know whether it was true or not.

Zechariah did not trust the angel, and he questioned his intent.

You see, sometimes the smallest details can make a big difference in the outcome of something.

And it’s important for us to realize that those small details can help us better understand God’s word, and why certain things play out the way they do.

What seems contradictory on the surface suddenly becomes very clear, and much easier to understand.

Mary trusted. Zechariah did not.

Mary was told she had found favor with God. Zechariah lost his ability to speak because of his failure to trust and believe Gabriel.

There is a reason for everything God does. We may not always understand it. And there may be times when we don’t comprehend why He does it.

But if we take the time and make the effort to look at the smaller details, He is faithful to give us understanding and clarity 🙏🏻

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Luke 1:18 (LSB) 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”

In the verse above, Zechariah was speaking to an angel, Gabriel, who had appeared in the Temple where he was performing his priestly duties.

Gabriel told him he was sent by God for the specific purpose of giving Zechariah a message; that his wife would conceive and give birth to a son who would be called John.

Gabriel delivered that message to Zechariah. But Zechariah questioned him. And he was punished for doing so by losing his ability to speak.

Fast forward six months (timespan given in Luke 1:5-25), and Gabriel greets a young girl with a message announcing that she is favored by God and will conceive and give birth to a son, despite being a virgin. And that Son will be called “the Son of the Most High”.

Mary was baffled and shocked by this message. And she asked the angel how this could be since she was a virgin (Luke 1:34).

It is important to note here what happened next. Did Gabriel scold Mary and punish her for asking how this could be, as he did with Zechariah??

Let’s see what happened.

Luke 1:35 (LSB) 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

As you can see, Mary received a very different response from Gabriel than Zechariah did.

Why is this. What was it that Zechariah said to elicit such a vastly different response?

Let’s dig into this tomorrow and see what we find!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

1 Peter 5:7 (LSB) 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

In the body of Christ, we often talk about laying something at God’s feet or laying it at the foot of the cross.

While that phrase is not found in the entirety of the Bible, the concept of it is.

We are told in the verse above that we should cast our cares, or our anxieties, on God, surrendering them to Him because He cares for us.

This is a concept that we all love; take our cares and concerns, all the things that weigh us down, and give them to God.

But let’s be honest; it is easier said than done!

How often do we lay something at God’s feet and then find ourselves running back to pick it up because we don’t see anything happening, or we feel like whatever God is going to do is taking too long?

This is far more common than most of us care to admit.

It is human nature to want to control everything. And when we are facing something difficult or stressful, we often think we have the answer, so we try with everything in us to maintain control and fix it, even when we have supposedly given it to God.

We may not have a clue as to how to fix our problem, but we will hold onto it with a death grip instead of surrendering it.

This should show us who we are and how strong (or weak) our trust in God is.

Ouch!

We must learn to trust God with EVERYTHING about our lives.

If we trust Him with our souls, should we not also trust Him with our situations and our trials?

Giving them to God does not mean that difficult things will simply go away.

But it does mean that while we are waiting, obeying what He tells us to do, and allowing Him to work and move on our behalf, we can have peace that makes no sense to our human understanding.

Yes. We can have incredible peace during the most powerful, savage storms, even when we can’t see an answer or solution.

How? By trusting Him and allowing Him to move on our behalf and refusing to run and pick up that thing that we laid at His feet.

His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

Let us learn to trust Him.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.